Though A Candle Burns
by IcedHeat
Summary: What if Daniel had managed to get Jack to ascend in Abyss?
1. Chapter 1

Title: Though a Candle Burns…

Chapter: 1

Email: What if Daniel had managed to get Jack to ascend in Abyss?

Category: Angst/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 6

Spoilers: Meridian and Abyss are the obvious ones, but anything up to the end of season 6 is fair game.

Content Warnings: None

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: I make no money from this stuff, just messing about with someone else's universe.

Author's Note: I'm not entirely sure where this came from. I don't usually do episode what ifs, so I really need you to let me know what you think of this. You hear that? Even more needy than usual. A new low. Grins unashamedly 

"You're a better man than that!"

"That's where you're wrong!"

Daniel and Jack stared at one another.

'_He really believes it,'_ Daniel thought, _'he really thinks that little of himself.'_

He couldn't work out how to get through to his friend, what he could say that would make a difference. He couldn't stand by and watch Baal torture Jack any longer.

He looked away from the burning certainty in the other man's eyes."Right now, I can't imagine doing or being anything other than what I am." He said, working through what being ascended had meant to him. "I see things, I understand things, in a way I never could have before. But I chose this. Even when Jacob was trying to heal me, I chose this." Time for a new approach. "But you, in the place you're at right now... you don't have any other choices. This is not your life we're talking about, Jack! This is your soul! This is it...what I'm offering you is your only way out."

While Daniel had been talking, Jack had been thinking. Daniel watched him carefully. Jack looked almost… defeated.

"You're wrong about that too." He said quietly.

Daniel shot him a confused look, worried about where his friend was going with this.

"I have another choice." Jack said.

Daniel shut his eyes, trying to shut out his understanding of what his friend was saying. He shook his head, denying it. "What are you talking about?" He asked, hoping he was wrong, knowing he wasn't.

Jack just looked at him. The look he reserved for the rare occasions when he wasn't pretending to be stupid, when he knew that both he and Daniel were thinking the same thing.

Daniel shook his head again, this time a refusal. "No."

Jack became more animated, he had reached a decision. "Any minute, they're gonna come. Baal is gonna kill me again. You can make it the last time."

"Don't ask me to do that..." Daniel pleaded.

"You can put an end to it..."

"I won't do it..."

There was a sound above them in the hall. Baal's Jaffa were approaching.

Jack decided to play his ace. "I'd do it for you, and you know it."

He positioned himself on the floor, ready for the gravity change in the cell.

"I don't wanna see this cell again, Daniel."

Baal was torturing him again.

Jack still couldn't quite believe that Daniel was refusing to help him. He had no idea how many times this had happened since he and the former archaeologist had had their… disagreement.

He realised Baal was asking him a question.

"What was it's name?"

"Kanan." Jack replied. Again.

Baal seemed pleased. "There...you remember his name. What was his mission?"

Jack tried to speak through the pain, but it was difficult. "No mission."

"Was it to steal the slave from me?"

"I don't know."

"Did Kanan believe a slave could know my secrets? There's something else you're hiding from me." He pointed a knife in Jack's direction, but made no move to get in position to allow it to fly into his victim's body. "I sense it. I feel it."

Jack's voice was little more than a broken whisper. "When are you gonna end this?"

"If you tell me what I wish to know, I will end this."

Jack gave up talking to Baal. "Daniel?"

The goa'uld regarded him disdainfully. "Your mind is beginning to fail. It's time for the sarcophagus, but as you regain the strength to return here, consider this: it will be far worse next time"

"Daniel?"

He remembered the pain. But he couldn't feel it anymore.

This didn't feel like those first moments after awakening from the sarcophagus. He didn't feel disoriented. He wasn't in his cell.

He was… no where he recognised. He assumed it must be a room, he was standing on what seemed to pass for a floor, but… no walls, no surfaces, no explanation of the light that seemed to fill the space.

"Hi, Jack."

"Daniel?" Jack looked around himself, confused. "What happened there?"

The former archaeologist looked uncomfortable. "Uh… yeah… about that…"

"You ascended me." Jack said, having already worked out what it was Daniel was so uncomfortable about.

"Yeah." Daniel said, watching his newly-ascended friend carefully for any signs of an outburst.

"You ascended me!" Jack was definitely getting angrier.

"I had to do _something_!" Daniel snapped defensively. "I couldn't keep watching him kill you!"

"So look away!" Jack growled.

"Jack…" Daniel trailed off, unable to comfort his friend.

"I can't believe you did this! You said you couldn't unless I wanted to!"

"I'm not supposed to." Daniel admitted, calm in the face of Jack's temper, despite the knowledge that this never worked.

"Then why did you?"

"You know why." Daniel said. "You asked me to end it." He pointed out.

"I didn't mean for you to ascend me." Jack snapped.

"Jack, it's done now, can't we just forget it?" Daniel pleaded.

"Forget it? Daniel, I'm _dead_! It's not something I'm likely to forget."

"You aren't dead, Jack." Daniel snapped. "You're ascended. It's different."

"It is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is!"

"Isn't!"

"Gentlemen!"

On the astral plane, Daniel and Jack's heads snapped around to look at the freshly materialised Oma Desala.

Daniel was surprised to see faint signs of annoyance on her usually benign countenance.

"Uh oh." He muttered.

"You in trouble?" Jack muttered back.

"I'm not sure." Daniel replied.

"You have much to learn, Daniel." Oma said. She looked at Jack. "You are Jack O'Neill." She said.

There didn't seem to be much point in denying it, so Jack nodded.

"This is most irregular, Daniel." Oma said.

"Hey… it's not his fault." Jack said.

Both Oma and Daniel gave him a strange look.

"Well, it isn't," Jack said, "I asked him to do something."

"A moment ago you were decrying his actions, now you defend him?" Oma said.

"He's like that." Daniel said, shooting Jack an apologetic look.

"He shouldn't be here, Daniel."

"Hey, I'm right here you kn-" He stopped. "What do you mean I shouldn't be here?"

"You would have escaped long before the sarcophagus destroyed you." Oma said. "In his haste to save you, Daniel acted too quickly."

Daniel looked sheepish.

Jack glared at him briefly before turning to Oma. "So… let me get this straight. I would have survived?"

"Yes." Oma confirmed.

"…but now I'm dead?"

"Ascended." Oma corrected.

"Whatever. Ultimately it means the same thing to me."

Oma looked amused. "You do not wish for enlightenment?" she asked.

"No. What would _I_ do with enlightenment?"

Daniel smirked.

"You have to go back." Oma said.

"No. I'm here now. I'm not going back there."

"I don't think you have a choice here, Jack." Daniel said.

"He has a choice." Oma said.

"I'm not goin' back." Jack said again. "You guys let Daniel run around with too much power. I coulda warned you about that. Now you have to put up with the consequences."

"You can't be serious!" Daniel hissed.

"Why not? Maybe I'll try the enlightenment thing after all."

"Jack," Daniel said warningly.

"What, Daniel?"

"Don't be stubborn for stubbornness sake. Think about this."

"No." Jack said mulishly. "What do I have to go back for, Daniel?"

Daniel looked desperately at Oma, but she didn't seem inclined to help him out. "The SGC needs you, Jack. Earth needs you."

"Earth needs me?" Jack asked. "Y'know, Daniel, I've bought into the whole 'Your country needs you / Your planet needs you' crap for far too long now. What is the point of us saving the world over and over if we've got nothin' to show for it?" He paused for breath. "And anyway, the planet doesn't need _me_ specifically. Carter could probably do my job twice as well _plus_ she's a genius. Problem solved."

"You have no guarantee they'd give Sam command of SG-1, she's just a major."

"My point is still valid. Anyone could do what I do."

"That isn't true, Jack."

Jack snorted scathingly.

"You would stay here, regardless of the consequences in your previous existence?" Oma asked quietly.

"What?" Jack asked, "What consequences?"

"Would you like me to show you?" Oma asked.

Jack looked impressed. "You can do that?"

"You're _allowed_ to do that?" Daniel asked, incredulous.

Oma nodded. "Would you like to know what will happen as a result of your… demise?"

Jack looked doubtful for a moment.

Daniel said, "He would."

Oma smiled at Daniel's pushing of his friend. She looked at O'Neill for confirmation. The man nodded.

"Very well." She said. The scene around them changed.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Though a Candle Burns…

Chapter: 2 of ?

Email: What if Daniel had managed to get Jack to ascend in _Abyss_?

Category: Angst/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 6

Spoilers: _Meridian _and _Abyss_ are the obvious ones, but anything up to the end of season 6 is fair game.

Content Warnings: Apparent character death (Jack in _Abyss_), nothing bad.

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any of the characters herein, not even the delectable colonel. Dammit.

Author's Note: As before. In desperate need of feedback to check the fic is going in the right direction. Thanks to everyone who has already sent feedback, it means a lot. ;-)

When they re-materialised, they were in General Hammond's office. The General was sitting with Jacob Carter.

The two men were smiling; sitting back in their chairs and talking quietly about something.

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed, looking hurt, "They look happy!"

"Wait." Oma said calmly.

"Offworld activation!" Sergeant Harriman's voice came over the PA.

Hammond and Jacob stood simultaneously and rushed from the room.

"They don't know yet?" Jack asked, looking at Oma.

She shook her head.

"Ah. Makes me feel better." He said.

Jack looked down at himself. "Why am I still wearing the stuff the Tok'ra put me in?"

"You have yet to release your previous life." Daniel informed him.

"And you have, I take it?" Jack asked, eyeing up Daniel's all-white outfit.

"Yes, I did when I ascended."

"Because you were given a choice." Jack said acerbically.

"Shall we move on?" Oma asked, her voice beginning to show irritation at their bickering.

They disappeared and reappeared in the control room, standing just behind General Hammond and Jacob Carter.

"What is it, sergeant?" Hammond asked.

"It's an audio transmission, sir. From the Tok'ra."

"Patch it through."

"General Hammond," the deep voice came through the speakers, "is Selmak with you?"

"He is."

"Are SG-1 present also?"

"No. They can be summoned if necessary." Hammond replied, intrigued.

"It is probably better that they are not present to hear this." The Tok'ra said.

Jacob and Hammond exchanged looks. Jacob shrugged.

"What is it you have to tell us?" Hammond asked.

There was a lengthy hesitation on the other end of the radio.

"Hello?" General Hammond asked.

"I am here." The Tok'ra replied. "I am afraid I have bad news concerning Colonel O'Neill." The Tok'ra paused again. "He is dead."

Walter swivelled in his chair to stare open-mouthed at General Hammond.

"How?"

"Our contact tells us that Baal tortured and murdered Colonel O'Neill many times, reviving him in his sarcophagus. We do not know why he failed to revive the Colonel the last time. I am sorry."

General Hammond had turned ashen. He said nothing.

Jacob leaned toward the mic. "This is Jacob. Could you tell me how you know of Colonel O'Neill's death?"

"We received information from one of our spies in the system lord Baal's ranks. Colonel O'Neill died approximately two weeks ago."

Hammond seemed to have recovered his voice. "Are you sure?"

"There can be no doubt, General Hammond. I am sorry."

"Thank you. SGC out."

After the Stargate shut down the control room was silent. Everyone was staring at the General.

"General Hammond, sir, should I…?" Harriman's voice trailed off, he didn't know what to say.

General Hammond continued to stare into the middle distance.

"George…" Jacob said softly.

General Hammond seemed to straighten up slightly. "Yes." He looked up at the people staring at him in the control room. "Back to work, people." He ordered, not unkindly.

"Would you like me to call SG-1 to your office, sir?" Harriman asked.

"SG-1…" Hammond said softly, as though he were just remembering his flagship team.

"Sam…" Jacob whispered, so quietly that only General Hammond and the unseen watchers heard.

Out of the corner of his eye Jack caught Daniel sending him a very pointed look, which he, equally as pointedly, ignored.

"Yes," General Hammond was saying, "tell SG-1 to be in my office as soon as possible."

"Yessir."

"Thank you, sergeant." Hammond said, sounding suddenly much older than usual.

The two Generals left the control room.

Jack and Daniel looked at Oma. "What now?" Jack asked.

"Follow them." Came the simple answer.

Jack and Daniel did as they were told and followed the two older men back to the General's office.

Neither Hammond nor Jacob spoke until both were seated and the door was shut.

"You okay, George?" Jacob asked.

"As a matter of a fact, I don't think I am." Hammond replied.

Jacob nodded. Both Generals looked older and more exhausted than Jack had ever seen them.

At a sound from the briefing room, Jacob looked up.

SG-1 were milling around the room, waiting to be called into the General's office.

"What are you going to tell them?" Jacob asked.

"The truth."

Jacob nodded.

General Hammond rose and opened the door. "SG-1, if you'd like to step into my office."

He turned and headed back to his chair.

Sg1filed into the room, Teal'c's bulk making the office seem smaller.

Jacob moved around the desk so that he was flanking General Hammond.

Jonas' face was totally devoid of its usual smile.

Teal'c was looming possessively behind Sam.

Sam's eyes flicked between Hammond and Jacob suspiciously.

They knew something was wrong.

"Have you heard anything about Colonel O'Neill, sir?" Sam asked General Hammond.

"Have a seat, SG-1." Hammond said.

They sat.

"We have just received word from the Tok'ra," Hammond began, "one of their spies in Baal's fortress has discovered what has happened to Colonel O'Neill." Hammond paused, "There is no easy way to tell you this-"

"He's dead." Sam said.

It was Jacob who answered the expectant looks from her teammates. "The Tok'ra who contacted the SGC said that Baal killed him."

"We were right." Jonas said.

Sam nodded. "He did go to Baal's stronghold."

"Indeed."

Sam looked up at her father. "Did you know?"

"Sam?"

"When you came here. Did you already know he was dead?"

Jack was shocked at the anger he saw in her eyes. Her face was carefully under control, but her eyes blazed at her father.

"No. Sammie, why wouldn't I tell you?"

"You're a Tok'ra." She said coldly.

Jacob looked stunned.

"He is also your father, Major, and Jack's friend." Hammond reminded her sternly.

Teal'c laid a massive hand on Sam's shoulder.

She shook it off and stood. "So he's dead. I have some experiments I should be working on. General, permission to leave?"

General Hammond just stared at her for a moment then blinked and said, "Granted, Major."

Sam saluted the General, spun on her heel and marched out of the office and out of sight.

"What the hell?" Hammond asked.

"Maybe I should go talk to her." Jacob said.

"I would not do that if I were you, JacobCarter." Teal'c said.

"Teal'c?" Jacob questioned.

"I believe it would be best to allow MajorCarter some time alone before you next speak with her."

Jacob nodded.

"Are you okay, Teal'c?" General Hammond asked.

"Indeed I am not." The Jaffa replied. "I believe I will go to my quarters now, GeneralHammond."

"Go ahead." Hammond said kindly.

"I think I'll do that too, General, if it's okay?" Jonas said. The young man hadn't smiled since he entered the office and it was spooking Jack out.

"Of course."

Both members of SG-1 stood and exited the office in silence.

Jacob blew out a breath. "Do you think they'll be okay?" He asked.

Jack expected General Hammond to reply in the affirmative, but the older man said, "I'm not sure, Jacob. Sam and Teal'c just lost Doctor Jackson; I don't know how they'll cope with losing Jack too."

Jacob walked back around the desk and sat in one of the seats recently vacated by SG-1.

"I'll talk to Sam later." He said.

Hammond gave a mirthless laugh. "What are you going to say?"

"Wish I knew, George."

Jack, Daniel and Oma materialised in Sam's lab, where the Major was angrily throwing items into a briefcase.

Jack walked over to her workbench where a part of a large alien machine was lying, obviously broken.

"She broke her doohickey." He said quietly.

"Stupid." Sam suddenly snarled. "So stupid." She slammed the laptop closed and dumped it on the workbench, next to the broken part, which she picked up.

She slumped onto her chair, turning the part over in her hands. Suddenly, tears began to stream down her face. "Stupid." She said again, quietly this time. "I am so stupid."

Jack looked at Daniel helplessly, but the archaeologist just waved a hand in Sam's direction, indicating that Jack should keep his attention on her.

She sat up straight suddenly and wiped her face. "Get a grip, Carter." She ordered herself. "He was your CO for crying out loud." She stopped suddenly, as though hearing what she'd just said. "Oh god. I have to get out of here." She stood and grabbed her briefcase.

As she passed the wastebasket she tossed the part into it. Then she flicked the lights out and locked the door, leaving Jack, Daniel and Oma in the dark.

"God," Daniel said softly.

"She'll be okay," Jack said, looking at the door Sam had just exited through.

"How do you know?" Oma asked.

"She's _Carter,_" Jack said, as though that were reason enough for anything.

"So?" Daniel challenged. "Jack, you can't just keep assuming she'll survive everything. She's human too."

"I know that, Daniel, thank you." Jack snapped. "She'll be okay." He said again.

Daniel just stared at him and shook his head.

"Shall we see how your other friends are faring?" Oma asked.

Jack nodded mutely, still staring at the door.

Teal'c couldn't kel no reem. He had tried, but his mind was restless.

He wanted to know what had happened to his friend. How he had died. It was logical to assume that he had been tortured by Baal, but O'Neill did not succumb easily to torture.

He sat on his bunk with his hands resting lightly on his knees for many hours, contemplating his friend's fate.

Jack, Daniel and Oma appeared just before there was a knock at the door.

"Why wasn't he kel no reeming?" Daniel asked.

Jack looked confused. "What?"

"The candles are lit, but he wasn't kel no reeming." Daniel explained.

"How should I know?" Jack asked irritably, "Maybe he finished or something."

Daniel shot him an incredulous look.

Jonas entered the room.

"Sorry to bother you, Teal'c, but I couldn't sleep."

"Nor could I achieve kel no reem, JonasQuinn." Teal'c informed his friend.

"I was thinking about going to General Hammond in the morning. We never did find out what really happened to the Colonel." Jonas said, taking a seat on the floor.

"I concur." Teal'c said.

The two men were silent for a moment.

Then, "Do you think we should go see Major Carter?"

Teal'c looked at his new teammate. "We should, but not yet. Perhaps after we have seen GeneralHammond."

Jonas nodded. "I guess you're right." He said.

"You do not agree?"

"Its just… why are we treating her like she's got the plague?"

"Got the plague?" Teal'c repeated.

"Sorry." Jonas said, "Why are we avoiding her?"

"We are not. We are simply giving her space to come to terms with the death of O'Neill." Teal'c said.

"Don't you think we could do that better together?" Jonas pressed. "We are her friends."

"There are some things even friends cannot help with, JonasQuinn. MajorCarter will require 'space' to come to terms with O'Neill's demise. She is likely to prefer to do this alone at first."

"It just hit her so hard. I mean, to lose the Colonel so close to losing Doctor Jackson…" He trailed off at Teal'c's intense look. "But that's not all, is it?"

Teal'c shook his head.

Jonas seemed to digest this. "I thought there was something-"

"There was not." Teal'c corrected, cutting the young man off. "But perhaps there should have been."


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Though a Candle Burns…

Chapter: 3 of ?

Email: What if Daniel had managed to get Jack to ascend in _Abyss_?

Category: Angst/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 6

Spoilers: _Meridian_ and _Abyss_ are the obvious ones, but anything up to the end of season 6 is fair game.

Content Warnings: Apparent character death (Jack in _Abyss_), nothing bad.

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Not mine, sadly.

Author's Note: Want to thank all the lovely people that sent feedback. And to Jessica (Jessie88), you're right, I did think about having Selmak speak to the Tok'ra, both for the reason you said and because poor Jacob might be upset, but I decided against it because I felt that it was a personal matter more for Jacob than Selmak, and that he would want to question the Tok'ra. Its one of those things that I wanted to see both ways, just to see how it would read.

On the astral plane, Daniel was fixing Jack with a piercing look.

"What?" Jack asked.

"What do you mean, 'what'? Have you just seen something different to what I saw?" Daniel retorted.

"Daniel…" Jack warned.

"Don't try to bully me out of making you think about this, Jack." Daniel snapped. "It won't work here." He thought for a moment. "Besides, I know you'd never really kick the crap out of me." He smirked.

Jack glared. "Don't push it."

"Shall we go and see how Samantha Carter is coping, now that she is at home?" Oma said, forestalling the argument.

Sam was in her kitchen. She had been there since she got home, and would remain there until she was absolutely certain that there was nothing more she could do to her toaster to increase its efficiency.

At the moment it was lying in about eight hundred different pieces on the counter top. She was glaring fiercely at it, as though her inability to put it together were the toaster's fault.

Her phone rang, destroying the silence that pervaded the house.

Sam reached for the receiver. "Carter… Hi Janet… No, I'm fine… I don't need… Janet!"

She glared at the receiver in her hand before slamming it down on the kitchen counter. The plastic cracked.

"Great." She muttered. She looked guiltily between the phone and the toaster for a moment before turning and walking into her living room, where she sat heavily on the couch.

Jack walked around the couch and looked at her. Daniel followed him.

"She's been crying." Daniel observed.

"I can see that, Daniel." Jack snapped. "She cried after you died too."

"She can't fix her toaster." Daniel said, trying another tactic, "When have you ever known her not to be able to fix something?"

There was a knock at the door. Sam didn't move.

Jack, Daniel and Oma walked through the wall of Sam's house. Janet Fraiser was standing outside, still in her dress uniform, but minus her doctor's coat. She must have come straight from the SGC.

"Sam? Honey, I know you're in there!" Janet yelled through the door.

"Go away, Janet." Sam yelled back.

"Major Carter! Open this door at once!" Janet yelled back.

"You can't order me, Janet."

"I'm your doctor!"

"I didn't ask for your help, _doctor_."

"Fine!" Janet yelled. "Sam open this door before I go get Teal'c to come open it."

"I don't care." Sam yelled back.

Janet sighed and glared at the door. "Screw it." She said to herself. "I'm through being nice. Sam!" She raised her voice so her friend could hear her. "What do you think Colonel O'Neill would think about you hiding yourself away in your house, refusing to see your friends? What would he-"

The door was flung open by a furious Sam. "Don't you dare, Janet!"

"Then let me in." Janet said, unperturbed by her friend's ferocity.

"No."

"What do you think the _General's_ gonna say, Sam?" Janet said quietly. "How is he going to explain away the fact that Colonel O'Neill's second in command won't come out of hiding because her CO is dead?"

Sam stared at her friend for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was a whisper. "What am I supposed to do, Janet?"

"Let me in."

Sam turned and walked back into her house. Janet followed her in, closing the front door.

When Jack made no move to follow the two women, Daniel said, "Jack? You coming?"

"We shouldn't watch this." Jack said. "It's not fair to Carter."

"The reason she is in this state is your death, Jack." Oma said gently.

"Oma's right, Jack. You need to see this."

Reluctantly, Jack walked through the wall, back into Sam's house.

Sam and Janet were in the kitchen. The two women both had their arms crossed and were glaring at one another.

"Who told you?" Sam asked.

"General Hammond."

"And you immediately came here?"

"No. I cleaned up SG-3 when they came in, checked the SG-5's test results and called Cassie to tell her I would be late." Janet said, her tone equally as clipped.

"Did you tell her why?" Sam asked.

"No." Janet admitted, "I couldn't."

"Why are you here, Janet?" Sam asked.

"You know why." Janet said. "Colonel O'Neill is dead."

"Yeah, thanks, I got that." Sam snapped, glaring at her friend again. "It was my fault."

"You can't tell me you seriously believe that!"

"I was the one that made him take that symbiote." Sam said.

"You saved his life." Janet snapped. "Baal killed him, not you, Sam." She gazed at her friend intensely. "You expect me to believe that guilt is the reason you're hiding?"

"I am not hiding!" Sam yelled.

"Yes you are." Janet said calmly. "Hiding from the truth doesn't change it, Sam, don't you know that after all these years?"

"Leave me alone, Janet." Sam pleaded.

"No."

Sam turned on her heel and disappeared out of the kitchen.

Janet followed her though the house to her bedroom.

"You need to me honest with yourself, Sam, or this will destroy you."

"What do I need to be honest about, doctor?" Sam asked nastily.

"Don't talk to me like that." Janet said quietly, but her tone was forceful enough to get Sam to look up at her. "I was there when Daniel died. I know what you went through. It was like you'd lost a brother. But Jack?"

Janet trailed off as Sam looked away. "Please don't, Janet."

"Sam…"

"I'm fine, really."

"Sam…" Janet said again.

"Go home, Janet. Tell Cassie what happened. She should know about the Colonel."

"Jesus Christ, Sam!" Janet exploded. Sam stared at her. "The man is dead and you still can't bring yourself to call him by anything but his rank."

Sam nodded. "Go home, Janet." She said again.

"Fine." Janet spun on her heel and left, slamming the front door behind her.

"Wow." Daniel said.

Sam was still sitting on her bed, twisting the corner of the coverlet between her fingers.

"I didn't know she'd take it this badly." Jack said softly, standing just in front of Sam and looking down at her.

Daniel snorted incredulously.

"He didn't know, Daniel." Oma said.

Daniel stared from her to Jack. "How can you not have known?"

"I just didn't. I thought she'd be okay."

"Sometimes, Jack, you are so incredibly… dense!" Daniel snapped, angry at his friend.

"Hey! This isn't my fault! I didn't ask to be ascended, Daniel!" Jack yelled, whirling to look at his friend.

Sam's head snapped up as Jack yelled. She stared around the room, confused. "Jack." She said, softly, disbelieving.

Jack turned to face her again. She was staring right through him.

She shook her head.

Then she stood and walked through Jack.

She stopped dead, the same puzzled look on her face. She turned around, so that she was facing him. She waved her hands through the air a few times, then shrugged and walked out of the room.

They heard her speaking to herself in the hallway. "Get a grip, Carter."

Back on the astral plane, Jack narrowed his eyes at Oma.

"She knew I was there!" He accused.

Oma nodded.

"How?"

"The same way you sensed Daniel Jackson." Oma said.

Jack remembered just after their first mission without Daniel, before Jonas. He'd been going to dinner with Carter and Teal'c. Just as he left the SGC there had been a breeze. Carter and Teal'c had put it down to a fault in the ventilation system.

He hadn't.

Daniel was watching his friend carefully.

"So, are you gonna descend yet?" He asked.

"No." Jack said, surprising his friend.

"Jack! How can you be so selfish?"

"They're better off without me, Daniel," Jack said quietly, "Carter's better off without me there."

Daniel just stared at him open-mouthed.

Oma smiled sadly. "That is not so, Jack."

"Really?" Jack asked grimly. "Prove it."


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Though a Candle Burns…

Chapter: 4 of ?

Email: What if Daniel had managed to get Jack to ascend in _Abyss_?

Category: Angst/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 6

Spoilers: _Meridian_ and _Abyss_ are the obvious ones, but anything up to the end of season 6 is fair game.

Content Warnings: Apparent character death (Jack in _Abyss_), nothing bad.

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Not mine, sadly.

Author's Note:

They reappeared in Janet Fraiser's kitchen, one week later.

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed. "We went to the future."

"We did not." Oma disagreed.

"Yes we did."

"We did not." Oma reiterated. As Jack opened his mouth to speak again, Oma hurriedly explained. "You have heard the expression, time is relative?"

Jack nodded.

"From our point of view, time does not technically exist. We are able to… dip in and out of it at any point we wish." She paused. "That is… those of us who have truly released our burden are able, you are only able to see things that are directly related to you and to your previous life."

"Uh huh." Jack said.

"Did you get any of that, Jack?" Daniel asked snarkily.

"Yes, Daniel, thank you." Jack snapped.

Daniel smirked, earning a disapproving look from Oma.

Jack was looking around Janet's kitchen. "Where's the doc?" He asked.

Before anyone could answer the front door slammed open.

"Cassie! Is that you?" Janet's voice came from upstairs.

"Hi, mom!" Cassie replied.

A moment later Cassandra Fraiser appeared in the kitchen closely followed by Janet.

"Do you want to tell me why you had to leave Sam's so early?" Janet asked, taking a seat on one of the kitchen stools while her daughter busied herself making a sandwich.

"Uh… yeah… about that." Cassie said. "It was nothing, really, just wanted to come home."

"Uh huh." Janet said sceptically.

"What?" Cassie said, all-innocence.

"I think you spent too much time with Colonel-" She stopped. "Since when have you wanted to cut your time with Sam short, Cass?" She asked.

Cassie stopped buttering her bread and looked up at her mother.

"She's just… weird, mom. It's like she's not Sam anymore."

Janet's eyes narrowed knowingly, but she asked, "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, mom." Cassie said. "She's not Sam, she's Major Carter." She threw a mock salute.

Janet laughed and the teenager started back in on her sandwich.

"Add to that the fact that she's lost it and…"

"What do you mean lost it, Cassie?" Janet asked sharply.

Cassie looked up, then glanced away again.

"Cassie?"

"We were cleaning her kitchen-"

"Sam had you cleaning her kitchen?" Janet asked.

"Yeah. So we were putting the dishes away, and I kinda mentioned Jack-"

Janet winced.

"She dropped all the plates, mom. Just dropped them. Then she acted like it was an accident! Like they slipped!" Cassie was getting more and more upset as she spoke.

Janet stood and hugged her somewhat taller daughter.

"Did you know she's going back to work on Monday?" Cassie asked suddenly.

"What?" Janet asked, pulling back from her daughter to look at her.

"I know." Cassie sniffed. "Mom, I wish you'd talk to her."

"I can't Cass. Sam doesn't want to talk to me right now."

The girl nodded. "Jack would never let her do this to herself."

Janet laughed. "Oh yeah, I can see it: 'Carter! What the hell are you doing?'" Both women laughed. "He never understood why she beats herself up so much. Neither do I."

"Okay, so Carter's beating herself up. That's what she does. She'll get over it."

"You trying to convince us, or yourself, Jack?"

"Don't start with me, Daniel."

Oma spoke up. "While Samantha Carter has been kept at home, Teal'c and Jonas Quinn are unable to leave the base."

"She's starting to sound like the narrator of one of those bad cable movies." Jack said in an aside to Daniel.

Teal'c and Jonas were sitting in the commissary with Jacob Carter.

The table was oddly silent. Jonas was picking at his food, Jacob was cradling his coffee, rather than drinking it.

Teal'c sat staring into space.

"Teal'c?" Jacob called the Jaffa's attention. "You haven't touched your food."

"Neither have you or JonasQuinn." Teal'c replied.

"We'll no," Jacob admitted, "but at least we're pretending to. People are starting to stare."

"Why are the Tok'ra not offering us all their information regarding O'Neill's death?" Teal'c asked.

Jacob smiled ruefully. "Never let it be said that you're not to the point Teal'c."

"I will not."

"They're not telling me anything, Teal'c." Jacob said, sounding weary. "I'm just as much out of the loop as the SGC."

"So we're really no further in finding out what happened to the Colonel, are we?" Jonas asked.

"All they'll tell me is that Baal killed Jack. They tried to talk about how greatly they're affected by Kanan's loss," he stopped as though he had realised what he'd just said, "_We're_ affected." He corrected.

"I do not understand why they withhold information." Teal'c said.

"Nor do I, Teal'c, but there's nothing we can do, for the time being. SG-1 go back on active duty tomorrow."

"What?" Jonas asked, shocked.

"You didn't know?" Jacob asked. When both Teal'c and Jonas replied in the negative he went on, "Sam's coming back tomorrow."

"I do not believe this is a wise move on Major Carter's part." Teal'c said.

"Maybe you should go tell her that Teal'c, she won't listen to me."

"Then I very much doubt my words will hold any weight. Once Major Carter sets her mind to something, she will not be swayed."

"Why won't the Tok'ra tell them what happened?" Jack fumed. "I know they know."

"Oh, come on, Jack. You didn't die. You disappeared out of Baal's sarcophagus. I doubt even his Lotar knows." Daniel said.

"So, what? He's keeping it a secret, and the Tok'ra don't want to let on that they can't be sure I'm actually dead?"

"You are correct, Jack." Oma said.

"Look, I can see that they're a little upset…" Jack began.

"_A little upset_?" Daniel repeated. "Jack, they're falling apart. At least when I died they knew I had ascended. They don't know that about you. They think you died in some Goa'uld fortress after unbearable torture."

"I did." Jack reminded his friend.

Daniel shook his head. "How can you watch this and not want to go back? How can you see your friends suffer like this?"

"I don't have a choice, Daniel."

"Yes you do. You can go back."

"No." Jack was adamant. "Been there, done that…Jonas and Teal'c will be fine."

"And Sam?"

Jack hesitated. "Carter'll be fine too."

Daniel looked away in disgust.

"I think you are underestimating the severity of Samantha Carter's condition." Oma said.

"You don't know her." Jack reminded her.

Oma smiled infuriatingly. "Yes I do. Watch."

They appeared in General Hammond's office. Jack snuck a look at the desk calendar. Two months had passed.

The General looked… older. There was no other word for it.

He was sitting at his desk, reading a report when there was a polite rap at the door.

"Come." Hammond ordered.

The door opened to admit Colonel Reynolds. His arm patch had changed. He was now SG-1.

"General? You asked to see me?"

Hammond nodded wearily. "Have a seat, Colonel."

Reynolds sat, looking uneasy.

"I wanted to talk to you about SG-1, Colonel."

Reynolds nodded. "What do you want to know, sir?"

"First I would like to make it clear that this is off the record, Colonel." Hammond said.

"Yessir."

"How do you think the team is operating?" Hammond asked.

'_The team_,' Daniel noted, '_not your_ _team_.'

Reynolds looked a little taken aback at the direct question, but recovered quickly. "To be honest, sir… badly. I've never seen a team that communicated less in the field."

Hammond nodded, as though he had expected this answer. "Is it all of SG-1, do you think, or just one member?" He fixed the Colonel with a penetrating stare.

Reynolds shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"How can he ask that?" Jack asked angrily.

"Shh." Daniel admonished.

"It's Major Carter, sir." That said, Reynolds seemed to gain confidence. "I know she's brilliant, but I've seen no evidence of it. To be honest, sir, I might as well have an academy cadet on my team."

Hammond nodded again. "Jonas and Teal'c?"

"I get the feeling that Teal'c's thinking of leaving the SGC, to join the rebel Jaffa. Quinn is restless too."

"Give them time, Colonel."

"I am, sir. But I don't think it'll help." Reynolds hesitated. "Permission to speak freely, General?"

"We're off the record, son." Hammond reminded him.

Reynolds nodded. "SG-1 has lost too much, sir. To lose Dr Jackson was almost a crippling blow, but they had the whole 'not really dead' thing to help them out." He paused, obviously thinking about how to go on. "To lose O'Neill like that, sir? I don't think the team will survive it." He caught Hammond's eye. "And not just Major Carter, sir."

"Go on."

"I know my history, General, and I'm pretty good at reading between the lines. Teal'c is with us because he chose to join Jack O'Neill, not the SGC. His allegiance to us came later. He believed that O'Neill could help him free his people. We are going to lose him, General."

"You think he would desert his friends?"

"Not desert, no. But Teal'c left his family behind to fight this cause. What makes you think he won't do it again?"

"Point taken, Colonel."

"Jonas is getting more and more depressed, he told me that it was Jack O'Neill that made him see that there was an alternative to lying to protect his government, that some things were more important." Reynolds sighed heavily before continuing, "I don't know what to tell you about Major Carter, sir."

"Your written reports on the Major have been satisfactory, Colonel."

"She's doing her job, sir. But I get the feeling that her brilliance requires an emotional input, something other than just logic, and I don't think she's capable of that anymore."

"What are you saying, Colonel?"

"I'm saying, sir, that if we get into a bad situation, which is highly likely given what team we're talking about, that she won't be able to pull our asses out of the fire this time."

"So they're distracted." Jack said. "They just lost two team members in quick succession, of course they're distracted."

"Teal'c is thinking of leaving, Jack." Daniel pointed out.

"So maybe its time for him to go. Maybe he thinks that the SGC can't help him anymore. I can't see that it has anything to do with me."

Daniel glared at his friend. "You're lying."

Jack looked away. "Can't I drop in? Tell them I'm okay?" He asked Oma.

"You cannot."

"Daniel did."

"That was different." Oma replied.

"How?" jack asked.

Oma shook her head, unwilling to reply. "Let us observe once more." She said.

"No." Jack snapped. "I want to talk about this!"

But the scene was already shifting around them.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Though a Candle Burns…

Chapter: 5 of?

Email: What if Daniel had managed to get Jack to ascend in _Abyss_?

Category: Angst/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J (C'mon people, you're really still reading this part?)

Season: 6

Spoilers: _Meridian_ and _Abyss_ are the obvious ones, spoilers through season 6.

Content Warnings: None.

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note:

They rematerialised in a room at the SGC. Jack looked around himself, taking in his surroundings. "This is the women's locker room!"

Daniel rolled his eyes and Jack could've sworn Oma sighed.

Sam was sitting on the bench in her workout gear. She was crying.

Teal'c entered the room behind her. "MajorCarter."

"Teal'c, this is the women's locker room." Sam said, sniffing and wiping her eyes.

"It would appear that you are the only one in here," Teal'c said, looking around, "And you are fully clothed."

"Nice one, T." Jack muttered, unable to take his eyes from Sam's face.

Teal'c took a seat beside her on the bench.

"You miss O'Neill?"

"That obvious?" She asked, half-sarcastically.

Teal'c just looked at her.

"You guys must hate me, I'm being so selfish."

"We do not, and you are not." Teal'c said gently.

"This is so stupid." She said. "It's just, it feels like we just lost Daniel, and I don't know if I can…"

She began to cry again. Teal'c leaned towards her and pulled her into a hug.

Jack watched with Oma and Daniel as the tenuous allegiance of Tau'ri, Jaffa and Tok'ra at the alpha site disintegrated.

Teal'c was standing at the base of the ramp in the gateroom. Sam and Jonas were standing in front of him, flanked by what seemed to be half of the base personnel.

"Really wish you weren't leaving, Teal'c." Jonas said, shaking the larger man's hand.

Teal'c inclined his head. "I must, JonasQuinn."

Sam looked up at her friend. Jack was shocked at her appearance. She looked… gaunt.

There were dark circles under her eyes and her skin looked sallow. Her uniform was crumpled and she didn't seem to be standing straight.

"MajorCarter." Teal'c said softly.

"Teal'c."

"I shall miss you."

Sam looked at him sadly. "I'll miss you too, Teal'c."

"We will see one another soon." Teal'c assured her.

"I hope so." Sam said.

Teal'c pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you, Teal'c." Sam said, pulling back. "For everything."

"Thank _you_, Samantha." Teal'c said warmly.

She smiled at him, appreciating his use of her first name.

He stood back and inclined his head towards her.

He threw a salute to General Hammond and the assembled personnel, turned and headed up the ramp and through the event horizon.

As the wormhole disengaged and the gateroom began to empty Sam stared up at the Stargate. She looked utterly alone.

Jonas put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm okay, Jonas." She said, not unkindly, not looking around at him.

He opened his mouth to say something more, but closed it again and shook his head gently.

Sam stayed staring at the Stargate.

Jonas turned and quietly left the gateroom, passing Janet Fraiser on his way out.

"Sam?"

"Hi, Janet." Sam said, no real warmth in her tone.

"Must be strange." Janet remarked, looking at her friend out of the corner of her eye.

"What?"

"Being the last one." Janet said.

Sam remained silent.

"Last member of the original SG-1." Janet pressed. "First Daniel, then Jack-"

Sam broke in, "Stop it."

"Why?" Janet asked. "Sam, you have to move beyond this."

Sam spun to look at her friend. "Move beyond it? Janet, he was tortured again and again before Baal killed him, and it was my fault! How the hell am I supposed to move beyond that, Janet? Just carry on like it never happened? Like I never-"

"Never what?" Janet asked.

"Leave me alone." Sam said, pushing past her friend and out of the gateroom.

Janet was in General Hammond's office, standing almost at attention opposite her superior officer.

"You're telling me what, Doctor?" Hammond asked. He didn't sound pleased.

"I don't think Major Carter should be on active duty, sir. She isn't up to it." Janet was staring straight ahead, not meeting the General's eyes.

Hammond sighed. "I'm not going to pretend I don't understand what's going on here, Doctor. But we can't afford to take Major Carter off of active duty for the time being. In the last few weeks we've lost too many officers to allow for it." He looked downcast. "Cant you talk to her? You're her friend, perhaps it would help her to talk about it."

"I've tried, sir. She won't talk about it."

As the scene around them faded to nothingness, Jack was aware of Daniel glaring at him.

"What?" He snapped irritably.

"You can stop this." Daniel said. "You can make this better."

"I can't." Jack argued.

"Why not?" Oma asked.

"That's not fair. You guys're tag teaming me!"

"Why not?" Daniel and Oma asked in unison.

Jack glared at them. "I'll make it worse." He said, subsiding slightly.

"How is that even possible, Jack?" Daniel demanded.

Jack shrugged defensively. "Aw, c'mon, Daniel, you know me."

"That's not a reason, Jack. You can fix this. You're just being _unbelievably_ selfish."

"I am not." Jack shot back.

"Why won't you go back, then?" Daniel asked.

Jack was silent.

"You were not meant to die, Jack." Oma said softly. "What is happening now is wrong."

"I'm not that important." Jack muttered.

"You are to Sam." Daniel said. "I couldn't see it so much when I was there, but… she needs you Jack. All those times you turned to her and asked her for another choice, it was equal parts saving the world and her need not to let you down that drove her to the solution. She will die without you there to prove herself to, Jack. Jonas and Colonel Reynolds too."

Jack remained silent.

"Not just them." Oma said. "The SGC will fall as a direct result of your death. Without the support of the Tau'ri, both the Tok'ra and the Jaffa will fail." She looked at Jack intently. "Your death has already begun a chain reaction that will rapidly spiral out of control. The Tau'ri will be enslaved by a Goa'uld once more, they will regress. This time there will be no rebellion; there will be no burial of the Stargate."

"What about the Asgaard? The protected planets treaty?" Jack asked, noting that Daniel was also looking quite shaken up by Oma's words.

Oma nodded sadly. "I will show you the Asgaard."

"Where are we?" Jack asked, looking around at the desolate landscape.

"A central Asgaard planet." Oma replied.

"I can't see the Asgaard livin' here." Jack said.

The planet was… dead. There was one structure, looming in the distance.

"They don't anymore, Jack." Daniel said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"Look closer at the ground." Oma directed.

Jack knelt down to examine the ground beneath their feet. What he saw made him recoil in horror.

"Those're replicator blocks!"

Oma nodded. "You are correct."

"They took over here, Jack."

"But… they're the _Asgaard_!"

"This is not what caused the Asgaard to fall." Oma said sorrowfully.

Jack blinked. When his eyes opened again, he was inside what seemed to be the structure he had seen in the distance.

There were several humans in the large room.

"Who're they?" Jack asked, staring at them.

"They're replicators, Jack." Daniel said. "The Asgaard tried to trap them with some sort of time dilation device, to slow time down until they could solve the problem, but-"

"But the bugs figured it out." Jack said grimly.

Daniel nodded. "They turned it the other way. Time passes faster here now. They've _evolved_."

Jack tore his gaze away from the strange creatures in front of him and turned to look at Daniel and Oma.

"Don't look at me like that." He snapped.

"Like what?" Daniel asked.

"All holier-than-thou." Jack told him. "I could never have fixed this. Not in a million years. Maybe Carter-"

He broke off at the look Daniel sent him. "She can't Jack. The Asgaard never even got the chance to ask for her help, and Sam couldn't have saved them anyway."

"So what happened to the Asgaard?" Jack asked, turning to look at the super-evolved replicators again.

"They died, Jack." Daniel said.

"All of them?"

"Yes." Oma said. "The Asgaard were once great friends of the Ancients. It was a sad day when they were eradicated."

"Does the SGC know what happened?"

"They do." Oma confirmed.

"Take me there." Jack said.

"You're going back?"

"No, Daniel. I want to see… them."


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Though a Candle Burns…

Chapter: 6 of?

Email: What if Daniel had managed to get Jack to ascend in _Abyss_?

Category: Angst/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J (C'mon people, you're really still reading this part?)

Season: 6

Spoilers: _Meridian_ and _Abyss_ are the obvious ones, spoilers through season 6.

Content Warnings: None.

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who sent feedback. I really appreciate it. Sorry about the gap between updates. Real Life sucks, huh?

Seriously, it means an awful lot to me that you all took time to read and review. Thank you!

"I cannot take you there, as it is now." Oma said softly.

"Why not?" Jack asked.

Daniel sighed. "Because there isn't any _there_ to take you to, Jack."

Jack seemed to digest this for a moment. "What happened?"

Oma made a small movement with her hand and they were in a corridor at the SGC.

Around them people were running and fighting for their lives, the SGC was in full alert mode.

"I thought you said you couldn't bring me here?" Jack asked, looking around at the destruction.

"I could not take you to the place that existed that long after the demise of the Asgaard. We have gone back several months. When the Goa'uld learned that the Asgaard were losing their war with the replicators they lost no time in invading the civilisations formerly under the Protected Planets Treaty. They chose a symbolic place to begin."

"Lemme guess," Jack interrupted, "The Tau'ri."

"The Tau'ri?" Daniel repeated.

Jack glared at him. "Just 'cause I don't use the words, doesn't mean I don't know 'em, Daniel." He said reproachfully.

Oma said, "You are correct, Jack."

They appeared in the gateroom. It was a warzone. They watched as Jonas and Sergeant Harriman went down under the fire of several Jaffa, in defence of the gateroom.

After the SGC had been subdued, the Jaffa left some of their number to guard at strategic points, but most of them gathered together, waiting for someone.

"They're waiting for Baal." Jack said quietly.

Oma inclined her head slightly.

Baal appeared, dressed as flamboyantly as ever. He stalked the empty corridors, a satisfied smirk on his lips.

As he swept past a door there was a sound from the room within.

"Carter's lab." Jack said quietly.

They watched as Baal halted his Jaffa. He motioned one of them forward into the room, following him in.

At first glance, the room was empty.

"I know you are here." Baal said. He looked puzzled for a moment, then said, "I can sense you." He turned to his Jaffa, "Find them."

The Jaffa tore into the lab, scattering equipment and gadgets everywhere.

Finally two of the Jaffa dragged a figure in front of Baal.

Sam Carter.

Jack stared at the ghost of the woman he knew. Sam's face was ashen; her hair fell limply from her head, dull and lifeless.

Baal smiled. "Well, what have we here?" He asked, smugly. "Major Carter, of SG-1."

Sam said nothing.

Baal looked her over casually. "You know, I had no idea of who SG-1 were, and how great a threat, until quite recently, when I had cause to research you." He paused, surveying her again. "I see none of that threat here."

He walked around Sam, inspecting her, until he reached his previous position. "Do you know why I had cause to research SG-1?" He asked.

Sam ignored him, staring down at the floor.

"It was O'Neill."

Sam's head shot up, glaring at Baal.

"After I killed him, I realised that the Tau'ri, especially SG-1, were a significant threat. That you should be exterminated once and for all."

"You still waited until the Asgaard were out of the way." Jack sneered.

"Is that why you waited until the Asgaard were gone?" Sam asked.

Jack smiled. Behind him, Daniel and Oma exchanged looks.

"She speaks." Baal said mockingly.

"Go to hell." Sam and Jack said at the same time.

"I have no use for this one." Baal said to his Jaffa. "She would have been useful as a host, but that is too dangerous. Kill her."

He stepped back and walked out of the room.

One of his Jaffa stepped forwards and aimed his staff weapon at Sam.

Jack was once again in nothingness.

"Jack?" Daniel asked softly. "Jack?"

"Leave me alone, Daniel."

"Jack you-"

Oma put her hand on Daniel's arm, silencing him. "We must go, Daniel."

"But-"

"Now."

Oma and Daniel disappeared.

Jack stared at nothing.

Everyone was dead. Everyone. Teal'c might have survived somehow, but how long would the Jaffa rebellion survive with no allies? What about the Tok'ra?

_I'm going back._

Somewhere, Oma and Daniel were watching Jack.

"Oma, you don't know Jack like I do," Daniel was saying reasonably, "we need to push him to make this decision, to make the right choice."

"How long have you known Jack O'Neill?" Oma asked, her tone one of disinterested politeness.

"About seven years." Daniel replied, after working it out. "Since the first Abydos mission."

Oma nodded. "And in all that time, when the situation has been truly dire, have you ever known him to make the wrong choice?"

Daniel thought for a moment. "No," he grudgingly admitted, "not the wrong choice. The hard choice maybe, but not the wrong one."

"It seems Jack O'Neill's lack of faith in himself is contagious."

"That's not it." Daniel said. "Look, Oma… I _know _Jack is a better man than he seems to think he is, but that's not the point, is it?"

Oma shook her head.

"The point is that _he_ doesn't know that." Daniel finished.

Oma smiled at him.

"You know Jack will make the right decision, because in these circumstances, he can't make the wrong one." Daniel said, finally realising what Oma was doing. "He can't sit back and let that happen, no matter what he believes about himself. Whether or not he believes that his absence is the reason for it."

Oma nodded.

Jack was thinking.

There was no way he was going back to Baal. No way in hell. So that meant somewhere else.

He had to work out a point where he could change everything. Make it all okay.

He remembered when Oma had taken him to Sam's house, after she had argued with Janet. She had known he was there.

What if he could go back to then?

Oma had said they weren't really travelling through time, because for them, time wasn't really happening.

So what if he went there now, what if he descended there? Could he do that?

Jack concentrated on that moment, just after Sam had walked out of the room and they had left. He could see it all so clearly.

_He was there._

He looked around the room, still unable to believe that he had done it. Then he walked over to the dresser and tried to pick something up. Nothing happened. His hand passed right through it.

"Shit."

There was a sound behind him, and Sam walked into the room.

She had been crying again. Her face was still wet with tears. She looked around the room, as though expecting to see something.

Then she walked into the room, passing through Jack as she did so.

Again she stopped, but she didn't turn around this time. Her eyes closed and tears slid out from under the lids. "Stop it." She whispered. "Just… stop it."

"Stop what?" Jack asked, having no hope that she would hear him.

Sam gasped sharply. She was silent for a moment, then said. "Stop _that_. Please."

'_She can hear me,'_ Jack thought. He concentrated again.

He really, really wanted to go home.

He wanted to be here.

He wanted to stop his friends dying.

He wanted it so much it was like physical pain.

Tentatively, he reached out and put his hand on Sam's shoulder.


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Though a Candle Burns…

Chapter: 7 of ?

Email: What if Daniel had managed to get Jack to ascend in_ Abyss_?

Category: Angst/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: Guess. Go on, I bet you can't. Okay fine, S/J.

Season: 6

Spoilers: _Meridian _and _Abyss_ are the obvious ones, but there are spoilers through all of season 6.

Content Warnings:

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: Sorry about the massive gap, same excuses – I mean reasons! Anyway, sorry. And thanks again to everyone that sent feedback, I can't tell you how much it means to me

Sam didn't jump; she didn't scream.

For a moment she did nothing at all.

Jack felt unable to move again, still in shock that he was actually touching her. That he could.

Then Sam let out a long breath, almost a sob.

"This isn't happening." She said, almost to herself, obviously trying to regain control. "I'm going to turn around and there'll be no one there."

"I'm really here." Jack said, feeling her tense under his hand as he spoke. "Carter… Sam. Trust me."

Desperate to distract herself, Sam tried to recall the last time he'd actually called her Sam.

He was doing it again.

"Sam."

She shivered. His voice was just as deep as she remembered, the fingers resting on her shoulder just as long and elegant.

She squeezed her eyes shut against his presence, as though she could make him disappear.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said as though reading her thoughts.

"You were just here." Sam said, still avoiding turning around and facing him. "In my bedroom."

Jack felt inexplicably uncomfortable. "Uh… yeah. About that…"

"You were angry."

"Not with you." Jack assured her. "You gonna look at me, or what?"

"I'm afraid to." Sam admitted.

"Afraid of me?"

"I've never been afraid of you."

"Then what?"

"I'm afraid I'm dreaming again."

Neither of them moved for a full minute.

Then Sam felt Jack shift behind her.

She felt the barest brush of his fingers at the nape of her neck and her eyes slid closed.

The hand that rested on her shoulder slid down her arm and around her waist pulling her inexorably back against him.

"We needed you," Sam said suddenly, unwilling to give in to the sensation.

Jack said nothing, just held her.

"We needed you and you didn't come back."

"I'm back now."

"Why? Because _I _needed you?" Sam sounded angry.

"No."

"How can you say that?"

Jack's hands disappeared from her body, making Sam regret the tone she had taken. He walked around her until he was standing directly in front of her.

Sam glared up at him, her eyes shining with tears.

"I came back," Jack said softly, "because _I _needed _you_."

He wasn't touching her, but all Sam's senses were alive to his presence. She could feel him there. She could hear him breathing.

"You needed me?" Sam asked.

Jack cocked his head to one side, a half-smirk playing on his lips. The expression was so familiar that it startled Sam. "Yeah, I know," Jack was saying, "hard to believe, huh?"

Sam's eyes finally managed to leave his face and travelled down his body, taking in the unfamiliar clothes. The clothes that had bloodstained tears and holes in them.

Tentatively, she reached out and touched one of the holes.

It was smooth at the edges, as though it had been burned.

"Acid." She said softly.

Jack nodded.

"He killed you with acid?"

Jack shook his head.

"But…"

"Sarcophagus." Jack supplied.

"But you died." Sam said.

"Not exactly." Jack replied. "Daniel… intervened."

"Daniel?" Sam said, apparently unaware that she had yet to remove her hand from his chest.

"Yeah. He stopped the sarcophagus doin' its thing and ascended me."

"But you're alive?"

Jack nodded. "Apparently Daniel jumped the gun. I wasn't supposed to die there; you guys would have saved me. You, Jonas and Teal'c."

"How?"

Jack shrugged. "No idea. Like I said, Daniel jumped the gun. Oma turned up and said I had to come back."

"Why wait so long? Why come back here? Now?" Sam asked.

Jack shifted uncomfortably. "I… uh… I didn't want to come back."

"You didn't want to…? Why not?"

"I didn't think there was any point. You guys don't need me."

"You were just going to leave us and go off in search of what? Eternal enlightenment?" Sam sounded angry, but she still hadn't moved her hand.

"I am sick of fighting a war for nothing." Jack said.

"Not for nothing!" She snapped back.

"Oh yeah? What have we got to show for it?"

"We've taken down system lords…"

"And more just keep poppin' up." Jack retorted. "It's pointless." He sighed and turned away from her, stalking over to the other side of the bed and sitting down heavily with his back to her. "I can't do it anymore."

"But you came back," Sam said, questioningly.

"Yeah, I came back."

"Why?"

"Because Oma showed me what's gonna happen."

"She showed you the future?"

"Kinda." Jack said, not bothering to elaborate.

Sam walked around the bed and stood in front of him. Beyond her shock at just seeing him alive now, she noticed other things about him.

The biggest thing was that he was exhausted as she'd never seen him. His silver hair was completely messed up, but that wasn't unusual. His eyes were dull, as though he'd been recently horrified. "What did you see?" She asked softly. Still unable to call him by his first name and unwilling to call him _sir_, she bit the sentence off at the end.

Jack was staring at the bedroom rug. "Everyone died. The entire SGC. The Asgaard. Everyone."

"That's why you came back?"

He nodded. "I have to stop that happening." He looked up at her. "I can't watch you die again."

Sam stared at him, unable to speak.

"Bit much, huh?" Jack asked wryly. "Look, Sam, I'm gonna crash on your couch, if that's okay?"

"Sam?" Sam repeated, finally calling him on his use of her first name.

"Hey! I'm dead, remember? Cant be dead _and_ your CO." He replied defensively.

"I guess not." Sam said.

"You okay? You look a little lost."

"_You're_ asking if _I'm_ okay?" She asked incredulously.

"Yeah. All this must be a bit…"

"Odd?" Sam said.

Jack smiled. "Yeah. I'm gonna go crash, you look like you should sleep too." He stood, apparently misjudging the distance between himself and Sam and bumping into her. He murmured an apology, but didn't move back, Sam didn't seem able to move either. They stood for a moment, inches away from one another.

Hesitantly, she reached out and touched one of the acid holes again, poking her finger through and touching his chest.

Jack watched her intently for a minute then slowly brought his own hand up to capture hers. "Stop thinkin' about it."

"This hurt a lot."

"Ya think?"

The sarcasm brought Sam back to herself. "It's really you. You're really here."

Jack nodded, unable to speak.

"Don't go." Sam said.

"I'm not goin' anywhere." Jack said.

"Don't sleep on the couch." Sam said, seeing that he had misunderstood.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

"I don't care." Sam replied. "The idea that I would never see you again terrified me beyond belief. It scared me more than-" She broke off, unwilling to go on.

Jack cocked his head to the side inquisitively. "More than what?"

"More than this scares me." Sam said hoarsely, gesturing between them.

"This scares you?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Me too." Jack said.

Sam tilted her head back and pulled Jacks lips down to meet hers.


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Though a Candle Burns…

Chapter: 9 of ?

Email: What if Daniel had managed to get Jack to ascend in _Abyss_?

Category: Angst/Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 6

Spoilers: _Meridian_ and _Abyss_ are the obvious ones, but there are spoilers through all of season 6.

Content Warnings: None

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Only the story belongs to me. Nothing else. Clear? Good.

Author's Note: There is an adult chapter that goes before this, however since does not allow adult fic, its on my site.

* * *

"I think we can stop watching them now," Daniel said slowly, "I think they're okay."

"What gave you that impression, Daniel?" Oma asked as the image of Sam and Jack faded.

Daniel looked at her, catching the amused glint in her eyes.

"We're close," he informed her, "but not that close."

Oma nodded, smiling.

"Are we gonna talk about what I did?" Daniel asked.

"You were wrong to do what you did, Daniel." Oma said gravely. "We never help people to ascend when they are not ready; when there is no need; or when they are still needed."

"I know, I just-"

"I am not finished, Daniel," Oma admonished mildly. "You acted irresponsibly," Daniel hung his head, "and hastily, out of concern for your friend. And for that reason I cannot condemn you."

"Oma, I- What?"

"I cannot condemn your actions, Daniel." Oma repeated. "You only wished to help your friend. It was an understandable mistake."

Daniel stared at her, dumbstruck for a moment. "Thank you."

Oma smiled benevolently. "You are welcome. However, it cannot happen again. Your friends will time and time again be placed into situations that look bleak. Not just SG-1."

"Do you know something?" Daniel asked before he could stop himself. "Sorry."

"This cannot happen again." Oma reiterated. "I will not be able to stop the others from punishing you if you do this again."

When Jack awoke he was alone.

He sat up, scanning the room. His Tok'ra clothes were still on the floor, mixed up with what Sam had been wearing yesterday.

He stood and stretched. Realising he had no choice, he pulled on the Tok'ra clothes, grimacing as he saw the holes in the top.

He wandered out of the bedroom to look for Sam.

As soon as he opened the bedroom door he knew he was completely alone in the house.

He meandered into Sam's kitchen, in search of something to drink; he'd decide what to do later.

He was halfway through making himself a cup of coffee when he realised what was wrong with the kitchen.

Instead of lying fractured and broken on the countertop, the toaster was complete, looking none the worse for its treatment.

He tried it out. Perfect toast in thirty seconds.

He wondered again at where Sam had gone. And why.

There was a sound outside. A car pulling into the driveway. A door closing. The front door.

Sam was home.

Jack looked guiltily around her kitchen to see if he'd messed it up too much.

He was washing the plate and the cup he'd used when he felt her enter the kitchen.

He turned. "You okay?"

She was standing by the breakfast bar, watching him closely. She smiled ruefully. "Yeah, I just keep expecting you to disappear."

Jack smiled back. "I won't."

"I brought you some clothes." Sam said, holding up the bag she was carrying. "I figured you'd want to change." Her eyes swept over the Tok'ra outfit, flashing something akin to pain.

Jack stepped forwards and gently took the holdall. "Thanks." He said softly. "I'll go change."

As he moved past her she turned. "What happened?"

Jack looked at her. "I'll change first, then we'll talk, okay?"

Sam nodded and smiled at him.

Jack smiled back and headed for the bathroom.

As he went Sam could hear him muttering, "Damn stupid Tok'ra outfit. Uncomfortable, horrible colour…"

She smiled to herself and walked further into her kitchen, deciding that they should have coffee.

Aside from what had happened to him, the biggest question in her mind was: _What now?_

He was officially KIA.

But it would not be unusual for someone to come back from the dead. Granted, people outside the SGC had been informed of his death, his ex-wife, Sara, for one, but anything could happen. He could have been found, half-alive, in some far flung corner of the planet.

All the Air Force needed to do was say it was classified, and anyone who had known Jack well enough to have been informed of his death would understand.

Besides all that, she'd overheard General Hammond and her father talking about once before when Jack had been presumed KIA, before the SGC.

She couldn't imagine what Sara must have gone through. Believing him dead and then having someone come and tell her it wasn't true. He was alive and in an Air Force hospital. To ask what had happened and to be denied the truth.

At least Sam had known where he died and why, if not how.

But he hadn't died, he couldn't have, or he wouldn't be here now.

Sam rubbed her eyes, frustrated and confused.

"Remember Orlin?"

Jack's voice made her jump. "What?" She asked, turning to face him.

"Do you remember Orlin?" He asked again walking into the kitchen and taking one of the cups of coffee.

"Yes, why?" Sam asked.

"That's how come I'm here now."

Sam sent him a weak glare; sure he was being obtuse on purpose. "Orlin helped you?"

Jack shook his head. "No," he took a sip of his coffee, watching her over the rim of the cup, "Daniel did."

"Daniel?" Sam repeated.

"Well, I say helped…" Jack said.

"You said Daniel." Sam corrected.

"He _is_ an ascended being, Sam." Jack reminded her softly. "My word and the glowy thing not enough proof for ya?" He asked wryly.

"You saw Daniel?" Sam pressed.

"He ascended me." Jack said, "Completely against my will, might I add." He looked up at Sam and sighed. "Sit down, Sam."

She took one of the seats at the breakfast bar pulling it around so that she was facing him where he sat.

"What do you wanna know?" Jack asked.

"Everything." She replied. "What happened to you? Daniel ascended you, and then what?"

"Oma turned up. Turns out you guys woulda saved me before Baal got bored and killed me. Daniel jumped the gun."

"What did Oma say?" Sam asked.

Jack recounted what had happened to him since he 'died'. What he'd seen. What he knew.

Sam just sat there, listening to every word. Dazed.

"Sam," Jack called softly, "you with me?"

"It's just a lot to take in." Sam replied.

"Tell me abut it." Jack said wryly.

"Everyone died?"

"Yeah. I didn't believe it either." Jack said.

"I do." Sam assured him. "It's just so much to take in." She said again. "I can't believe what Baal did to you." She said, looking at him finally.

Jack shifted uncomfortably, but said nothing.

"What made you decide to descend here? Why now?"

"There were a couple of reasons actually." Jack said. "One: I couldn't go back to Baal. Even knowing that you guys would save me eventually, I could never willingly go back there."

"Why here?" Sam repeated the question with something like urgency in her voice, her eyes searching his face.

"Because you knew I was here, before." Jack said slowly, trying to work it out as he went along. "When I was here with Daniel and Oma. You knew I was here."

"You were angry." Sam remembered.

"Yeah, with Daniel. He was on my back about not descending. You know what he's like."

Sam smiled in acknowledgement. "What now?" She asked.

"I don't know. I have to stop what I saw." He thought for a moment. "I have to go back to the SGC."


	9. Chapter 9

  
Though a Candle Burns...  
Chapter Ten 

The drive to the SGC passed in silence. Jack glanced over at Sam, trying to work out what was going on with her. She hadn't spoken since he told her he had to return to the SGC. It wasn't that she was angry with him; it was more of a resigned silence. An acceptance of her fate.

It was stifling him. But he didn't know what to say to her. How to reassure her. He wasn't even sure that his reassurances would be valid, once they reached the SGC.

Sam stopped the car just outside the first checkpoint.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"They know you're dead." She said simply.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "I could lie down on the back seat." He suggested.

"Or we could call ahead." Sam said.

Jack shook his head. "And say what?"

Sam tapped the steering wheel for a moment.

"I have an idea." Jack said. "Drive in."

"What about you?" Sam asked.

"I'm staying where I am."

Jonas ran through the corridor, bumping into several airmen on his way and hurriedly apologising before running on.

"Colonel O'Neill just stepped onto the elevator with Major Carter!" He exclaimed as he burst through the door to Teal'c's quarters.

The Jaffa just looked up from where he was seated on the floor and raised an eyebrow. "Who told you this?"

"One of the nurses, one of the SFs told her." Jonas said, still trying to catch his breath.

"Rumours are often not accurate JonasQuinn."

"Oh come on, Teal'c. Who would make this up?" Jonas said.

Teal'c looked as though he were about to speak but was interrupted by the base PA system. "Teal'c and Jonas Quinn report to General Hammond's office immediately."

Teal'c stood.

"I guess we're about to find out." Jonas said.

"Indeed." Teal'c said.

When they reached General Hammond's office, Jonas was disappointed to see only Major Carter and the General himself inside. He'd already made up his mind that the rumours had to be correct, who _would _make something like that up?

General Hammond nodded solemnly, "Have a seat."

Teal'c and Jonas sat down on either side of Major Carter, Teal'c studying her intently.

"What's going on, General?" Jonas asked.

"I'm sure you have heard the rumour that Major Carter entered the mountain with someone impersonating Colonel O'Neill," Hammond began.

Teal'c and Jonas nodded; Sam looked down at her hands.

"Well-" Hammond continued, only to be interrupted by a voice at the door.

"Damn good impersonation if you ask me, and I should know."

Jonas sprung out of his chair. "Colonel O'Neill!"

"Not so fast, son." Hammond ordered gently. "Doctor?" He said, looking at the diminutive form of Janet Fraiser. Behind her loomed someone that looked very much like Colonel O'Neill, he was flanked by two burly SFs but seemed unconcerned by their presence.

Dr Fraiser opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Teal'c standing up. He moved over to the door of Hammond 's office. Fraiser moved aside as Teal'c obviously wasn't going to stop moving.

The Jaffa stopped about a foot away from Colonel O'Neill and searched the man's face with intense eyes.

Hammond looked at Jonas, who shrugged.

After about a minute, Teal'c grabbed the Colonel's forearm. "O'Neill." He said, his voice warm with affection.

"T," Jack said.

"Dr Fraiser?"

"He is Colonel O'Neill, sir." The doctor said. "All my tests confirm it."

"Colonel O'Neill is dead, doctor." Hammond said sternly.

"I can't explain it, sir." Fraiser said.

"I can." Jack said.

"You'd better." Hammond replied. He waved for everyone to take a seat. Janet sat next to Sam, Jonas retook his seat and Jack took the last available chair. Teal'c merely looked at him for a moment before bringing a chair in from the briefing room.

Hammond looked up at the SFs still standing just outside his office. "You're dismissed." Once they had left Hammond turned his gaze on Jack. "What the hell is going on here?"

Jack thought for a moment, evidently unsure where to begin. "Do you remember when Daniel… ascended?" He asked, addressing the room, but looking at Hammond, who nodded. Jack swallowed. "Well when Baal was through torturing me for the day, Daniel showed up in my cell. He wanted me to ascend, said it was the only way I would get out of there."

"Could DanielJackson not just use his powers as an ascended being to aid you, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

Jack shook his head. "Apparently not. He said he'd get in trouble, or somethin'." Jack shook his head. "Anyway, Daniel jumped the gun. He ascended me when it wasn't necessary. Apparently you guys were on track to get me outta there."

"So Dr Jackson ascended you?" Jonas asked. Jack nodded. "Are you still ascended now?"

"No. Oma Desala – remember her?" Everyone nodded. "Yeah, well, she showed up and bawled Daniel out for ascending me."

"So Oma Desala sent you back?" Hammond asked, sounding like he was buying into this for the first time since Jack had set foot on the base.

Jack looked embarrassed. "Uh... no. Not really. I didn't want to come back at first." He stopped, but Hammond sent him a stern look that was nonetheless inquisitive. Jack sighed deeply and told them everything, including what he had seen.

"I don't get it, Colonel," Jonas said, "why didn't you come back to the base? Why Major Carter's house?"

"When Oma took Daniel and me there, Carter knew I was there. It was weird. I thought maybe 'cause she knew I was there, it'd be easier to descend." Jack said.

Hammond nodded. "That makes sense."

"What now, sir?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure. After your experiences in Antarctica and with Baal I think at least some downtime is in order. For all of SG-1." Hammond said. "Two weeks is all I can spare you for. Dismissed."

Jack and Sam both looked up at the General in shock.

Teal'c and Jonas filed out of the room, closely followed by Dr Fraiser, Sam and Jack.

Sam stopped Jack just before he left the briefing room.

"What now?" She asked so softly that only he could hear her.

He cocked his head to one side, thinking.

"Ja – sir?" Sam asked, stopping herself calling him Jack just in time.

"Excuse me." Jack said, moving past her and back towards the General's office. "General Hammond, sir? We need to talk."


	10. Chapter 10

Title: Though a Candle Burns…

Chapter: 11 of 11

Email: What if Daniel had managed to get Jack to ascend in _Abyss_?

Category: Angst /Romance

Rating: Teen

Pairing: S/J

Season: 6

Spoilers: _Meridian _and _Abyss_ are the obvious ones, but anything up to the end of season 6 is fair game.

Content Warnings: None

Archive: My Site: Yes

SamandJack: Yes

Anywhere else: Yes

Disclaimer: Only the story is mine. Nothing else.

Author's Note:

Sam paced the floor of her lab.

Teal'c and Jonas watched her from where they sat, unsure whether or not they should say something.

Finally Jonas said, "It must have been weird, Colonel O'Neill just showing up in your living room like that."

Sam didn't stop moving. "My bedroom actually."

Jonas and Teal'c shared a look, which Sam seemed to sense, even in her state of unrest. "What?" She asked, pausing in her pacing.

"Nothing." Jonas said quickly.

"You are worried, MajorCarter." Teal'c observed.

"I have reason to be." Sam sighed.

"Indeed." Teal'c said.

Sam shot him a look, but the Jaffa remained silent.

"What are you all _doing_ in here?"

The three members of SG-1 turned to look at the door, where Jack was leaning against the wall, hands shoved deep into the pockets of the BDU's he had changed into since they last saw him.

"Colonel," Jonas' greeting was almost overtaken by Teal'c's "O'Neill."

Sam however, took her time taking in the uniform and what it meant, before saying, "Sir?" with only the slightest hint of a question in her voice.

"Carter, I promise you that your lab will still be here in two weeks time. Get outta here!"

Teal'c rose and walked to the door. "It is good to have you back, O'Neill," he said as he drew level with Jack.

"Good to be back, Teal'c," Jack responded, "stop by my place tomorrow, we'll hang out." He paused, "I still _have_ a place, don't I?"

Teal'c inclined his head and moved out into the hallway.

As Jonas drew level with Jack on his way out Jack said, "You too, Jonas. See you tomorrow."

"Yes, Colonel." Jonas said, managing to downplay his delight at the Colonel's apparent acceptance of him, but unable to disguise his usual grin. As Teal'c and Jonas moved off down the corridor Jonas' voice reached Sam's ears. "Hang out?"

She heard the start of Teal'c's low-voiced reply but they must have turned a corner because it was cut off abruptly. _'It must be nice for Teal'c to have another alien to explain what he's learned to,' _Sam thought.

"Carter, you're eating into your downtime here," Jack said, bringing Sam's attention back to him.

_'He needs a ride home,' _Sam remembered. She nodded, "Let's go, sir," she said, walking towards the door, careful to avoid his eyes so that he wouldn't see the hurt in her own.

As she reached past Jack to turn off the lights Sam felt a slight pressure on her arm. In the light from the corridor she could see Jack's fingers closed around her slender wrist.

She finally met his eyes, questioningly. Her mouth opened to form a question.

Jack shook his head. "Save it for the surface, Carter. General's orders," he said curtly.

Sam held his eyes for a moment then nodded and walked into the corridor, feeling Jack following her.

They were silent all the way to the surface, the elevators seeming to take twice as long as usual. When they finally exited the elevator they walked to Sam's car in silence. The only time any words passed between them was when they came to the turn off for Jack's house.

"Turn here," Jack ordered. Sam did so, obeying the order before she even thought about it.

When they reached Jack's house it was almost dark. Jack got out and walked to the front door, putting his hand in his pocket for the key. Sam followed, slowly, unsure of what was going on and still more than a little hurt at Jack's behaviour.

In the house, Jack tossed the keys on the kitchen counter and opened the fridge. Someone had been here and emptied it while he was… gone, but there was still beer in there, making Jack think that whoever had taken the food out had held out hope for his return. He took two beers, opened them and handed one to Sam.

She took it, hesitantly and took a sip. Jack leant on the counter behind him and downed at least half the beer in one gulp. Sam caught herself watching his neck and looked away, not sure if that had become 'inappropriate' once again.

Finally she felt that she just _had _ to speak. "Sir, I-"

"Whats with the 'sir' crap?" Jack asked gently.

"You tell me?" Sam snapped back, angry now. "What's with the 'Carter' crap?"

Jack smiled slightly, "We were on base." When Sam's expression didn't change he sighed. "New rules. On base you and I conduct ourselves properly, best traditions of the Air Force and all that. Off base?" He paused. "That's up to us."

"Up to us?" Sam asked.

"Well, you, really," Jack said, "I already know how _I _want to conduct myself."

The way he said it made Sam shiver slightly, Jack must have noticed, because he smiled, a slow lascivious smile that Sam had never seen before, one that did nothing to help her shiver.

"How is that?" She asked weakly.

Jack tilted his head to one side, and gave her a _look._ Then he stepped forwards quickly and pulled her face up to meet his, crushing her beer between them.

After several minutes he stepped back and sipped at his beer as though nothing had happened. "Kinda like that," he said, "only…_ more_."

"And we can do that without losing our jobs?" Sam asked, managing to inject strength into her voice that she somehow couldn't give to her legs, which we trembling slightly.

"And more." Jack confirmed.

Sam smiled, a huge, brilliant smile.

"We just have to make sure that we can still do our jobs," Jack said, a note of warning creeping into his voice

"Nothing's changed," Sam said. Jack opened his mouth to protest, but Sam cut him off. "I don't mean the rules, I mean here," she waved a hand in the space between them, "I still feel the same way about you as I have for a long time, and I've always done my job up until now."

"Exactly." Jack grinned. Then he stretched and yawned theatrically. "We should go to bed."

Sam looked at her watch. "It's eight o'clock and we're on downtime, we don't need to sleep yet." She pointed out.

"Who said anything about sleep?" Jack shot back, stepping into her personal space.

"Good point," Sam said.

Jack nodded approvingly and took her hand, leading her out of the kitchen and towards the bedroom.

"Do I get to know what you said to the General?" Sam asked.

"Tomorrow," Jack promised.

It was several hours later that Sam awoke in the darkness. Jack was sitting up against the headboard, holding Sam against him. 

"Have you been to sleep?" Sam asked.

"Little bit," he replied.

"Come here," Sam said.

Jack snuggled down in the bed until he was face to face with Sam.

"You said that you didn't want to ascend," Sam said. Jack nodded and Sam continued, "Why not?"

"I wanted to come back here." Jack said simply.

"But if you were going to die…" Sam said, and trailed off, unable to complete the sentence.

"Well, I'm hardly suited to all that… glowy stuff, am I?" Jack said, "All that 'if you know the flame is a candle' crap. Its Daniel's thing. He always was smarter than me."

Sam looked at him crossly, "You're smarter than you give yourself credit for."

Jack snorted laughter at that, "Yeah, Daniel said that too."

"And what did you tell him?" Sam asked.

She could hear the smile in Jack's voice as he replied, "Though a candle burns in my house, there's nobody home."

Sam laughed outright at that. Jack watched her laugh, his expression thoughtful.

"What?" Sam asked.

Jack smiled softly at her. "I'm home now."


End file.
